An Eternity To Love
by Kanata Saionji
Summary: The 18-year-old Kanata has been nothing but your normal teenager - single parent, top of his class and most sought after young man at his University. At least that's what he thought. On his journey inside the ruined Taiyama Kingdom, Kanata is not only going to discover the truth about the curse but also about himself. Read & Review!
1. Chapter 1

**An Eternity to Love**

As the fire finally died down, the first snow of the season fell on the barren and scorched grounds, beginning to hide under her white layer the remainder of the ashes. Screams could still be heard behind the sealed gates, as the few people who managed to escape cried their hearts out towards their loved ones.

But nothing was loud enough to mask the slow whisper that followed the night's first darkness.

" _An eternity is not enough…"_

 **Present Day, Heiomachi**

Eighteen-year-old Kanata Saionji woke up to the sound of the alarm, sweating and breathing fast. He breathed out even more as he slid both his hands from his forehead and into his handsome locks of brunet hair as the nightmare that woke him up still haunted his thoughts.

As he rested his face with one hand, the other stretched and stopped the still beeping alarm. The brunet closed his auburn orbs for a second to find peace, only for his nightmare to reminisce inside his head again. He opened his eyes again, fear evident in those auburn irises.

"Are you still asleep Kanata?" came his father's voice, a little muffled since the doors to his room was still closed, "you're going to miss your trip, you know…"

"I'm up," Kanata managed to say as he got to his feet and grabbing a towel, started making his way to the bathroom for a quick shower to ward off the nightmare.

But as the cold water splashed on his face from the shower, he couldn't help but think about his nightmare. It had been ages since he had had such nightmares. He could still remember how he'd go to his parents' room every time he had that nightmare.

His mother would always tell him that he's safe and sound and his old man would frantically run around the room chanting mantras to make him feel safe. But now, his mother was no longer alive to hold him and tell him that he was safe and since he is no longer eight, his old man would merely make fun of him being still afraid of nightmares.

But this was no ordinary nightmare. The weirdest thing about the nightmare is that it's simple.

What is this nightmare you ask?

Falling

He's merely falling.

Every time

 **Chapter 1**

 **The Taiyama Kingdom**

"Have a safe trip Kanata," waved his bald father as Kanata walked down the steps to their house, waving off-handedly to his father.

As his feet reached the road and he turned right and started to make his way to his University from where his class would be leaving for their educational trip for the year. He sighed as he pulled on the straps to his back-pack, his steps making the first noise for the day seeing as it hadn't even properly sunrise yet.

He was neither sleepy nor tired. He was merely irritated at the fact that their University was planning this trip right into the beginning of their first semester. He was doing his History Major at Heiomachi University and their current trip is to this ruined kingdom nobody had even heard of. He wasn't even sure why they were headed there.

As he caught sight of the University, he quickened his pace for he knew for sure that he was a little late and his History Teacher, Miss Mizuno is bound to be mad. She'll surely kill him if he were to reach them any later.

"Saionji! You're late!"

Kanata looked at his thirty-ish teacher and shrugging his shoulders said, "Tch! I know… Got held up…"

Miss Mizuno sighed.

The brunet gave her a nod and then turned towards their trip bus when, out of one of the windows to the bus, a blond peered out and he shouted at Kanata to come over, "Oye! Over here…! I saved you a seat!"

Kanata waved at him and climbed the bus only to be greeted by the entire female population in his class, who went in chorus, "Hey Saionji-kun! Good Morning!"

Kanata gave them all a weak smile and proceeded towards his blond friend at the back of the bus, away from the squealing girls all of whom leaned from their seats for a better look at him.

Kanata sighed as he sat down beside the blond.

"You shouldn't be so mean to them, you know," said the blond reasonably.

"Could you not do this now, Hikarigaoka?" said Kanata lightly, "I'm damn sure they would do something either stupid or embarrassing before this trip ends…"

"Or both", the blond smirked and then with a chuckle said, "C'mon dude… they wouldn't have signed up at all if it weren't for you coming…"

"I know," said Kanata through clenched teeth.

The blond sighed and said, "I feel for your future woman…"

Kanata chuckled at his friend's statement and said, "So do I…"

The blond chuckled as well.

"So…" started Kanata as Miss Mizuno started with some tips on safety and precaution, "did you get info on the place we're going to…?"

"I tried dude…" said the blond shaking his head somberly, "it was very hard… all I got were some articles on it and nothing big… it's all so weird…"

"Let me see them," said Kanata, frowning.

The blond sighed and then pulling his bag from the above compartment, opened the zipper and pulled out a file and handed it to the brunet.

"I did some research in the archives and this was all I got…" he said.

The engine to the bus started and they were taking off.

Kanata flipped open the cover to the file and in the first page was the name of the kingdom they were visiting:

 _ **TAIYAMA KINGDOM**_

 _25, December, 2000_

 _Ruins of the unknown and ancient Taiyama Kingdom were discovered by the student archeologists of the Heiomachi University. What is amazing is that nothing in the burned up kingdom was brought back. Sources say that the kingdom is cursed and nothing in that kingdom can ever be brought from its original place…_

Kanata read through the article and a few more and there was nothing interesting about this Taiyama Kingdom apart from the fact that people believe it's cursed.

And haunted.

"That's it…?" he asked the blond when he was finished with the article.

"That's all I could get," informed the blond.

"It says here that after that batch of students who went there," said Kanata, scanning the articles again, "not many batches were taken to that ruined old place apart from us…"

"Yeah…" said the blond, "that's because nobody could actually enter the kingdom… they could only stare at it from the outside…"

"How do you know that?" asked Kanata frowning, "there isn't any mention about that in the articles…"

The blonde smirked and said, "I have my resources…"

Kanata raised an eyebrow.

"Fine… Miss Mizuno told me…" he said off-handedly, "apparently she was in that team as well…"

"Then why are we going if we know we can't enter…?" asked Kanata.

"Beats me…" said the blond, shrugging.

Nearly two hours into the trip and with the bus showing no signs of slowing down, the entire class had settled down from their travel games and singing and were in a partial slumber.

Kanata looked out the window, his head against the glass, wondering what the old man was doing and if we had rushed out to his sermon without having his breakfast. He sighed and leaned back on his seat, and looked down at the file still in his hands.

He closed his eyes lightly and before he knew it, he was asleep.

He was dreaming again.

But this time he was not in his usual nightmare. But it was close enough to one.

He was all alone. As he turned and twisted, all he could see was complete darkness. He ran like a maniac, trying to find someone… anyone… But nothing… he was in a dark place with no end.

Then suddenly, he heard humming.

It was soft and soothing. He ran again, searching for the source of the voice humming the tune. He ran and he ran. Finally, he caught sight of a small glimpse of light at a farther distance. He started running towards it. The light began to size up. He was close enough. He extended his hands whilst sprinting to embrace the light.

"Kanata! Wake up dude! We're here!"

Kanata's eyes snapped open and he could make out blurred images of Nozomu trying to wake him up. He opened his eyes wide and noticed that the bus had come to a halt.

"We're here?" he asked, trying to get some senses back into his body as the dream was still vivid in his mind.

"Yeah…" said the blond as he swung his backpack over his shoulder and stood waiting for the brunet in the empty bus, "everybody's on their way to the hotel already…"

Kanata grabbed his backpack as well and the two teenagers made their way down the bus. Kanata looked around the place they had stopped. The bus was outside a small shack with a rickety old board with the sign—" _Tai_ _hoteru"._

"Hmmm…" muttered the blond, "well, I'm guessing that's it's not going to be a good week…"

The brunet couldn't help but chuckle at that and together, the two made their way into the hotel and found the rest of their class at the reception, with Miss Mizuno talking with an old guy in his kimono.

"We called ahead…" said Miss Mizuno, "c'mon sir please… we need just eleven rooms…"

"Yes… yes…" nodded the old man gravely, "but as I mentioned on the telephone, you have to realize that it is not that easy to stay here madam".

He had an old Japanese accent and he spoke with great patience and perfection.

"I'm sorry madam," said the old man shaking his head, "I just cannot let you stay here… you should find yourself accommodation in a nearby town perhaps… away from here…"

Kanata who was standing at the very end of the crowd, finally lost his patience and pushed up front and approached the old man and snapped, "Look here old man… we've travelled a long way… we're not turning back now… whether we handle this or not is our problem, not yours… just give us the rooms… that's your job".

"Saionji!" snarled Miss Mizuno and said through the corner of her mouth, "do you want him to kick us out?"

Kanata merely rolled his eyes.

The man sighed and then said in a little more than a whisper, "I'll show you to your room sir," said the making the two, jump in surprise.

"Huh?" Miss Mizuno blinked.

"At least I warned you sir," said the old man and he toppled out of the reception carrying a bunch of keys and walked squarely towards the stairs.

"How did you do that?" asked a guy in his class amazed.

Kanata shrugged his shoulders.

"We'd better follow him before he changes his mind," said Miss Mizuno as she started to follow the old man, her students following closely.

"Good work dude…" nudged Nozomu as the two made their way, along with all the other students in the class.

Twenty minutes later, Kanata opened the curtains to the windows in their room and with it, opened the windows, letting the moonlight bathe the dim-lit room. He poked his head out in the chilly air and inhaled deeply, his eyes closed.

"Wow…" his roommate exclaimed as he came out of the bathroom drying his wet blond hair with a towel, "this room is so _cool_ …"

"I think that's because we got the biggest room here," pointed out Kanata lightly, as he closed the windows and the curtains following.

"Hmm… but that old geyser insisted that you take this room," said Nozomu.

"As long as he doesn't put extra on the bill for this room, I have no problem," said Kanata as he sat down on one of the two beds, over which his bag was lying at the head.

"You have a point," said Nozomu sitting down, facing the brunet, on the other bed, wherein his bag was laying.

The brunet sighed inwardly and then dropped on the bed and closed his eyes lightly. After drying himself off, the blond slid through the blankets in his bed and turning off the single lamp at the side table, dozed off as well.

As the last of the lodgers in the hotel dozed off to their dreamland, the old man in the shack watched the grandfather clock in the reception as it ticked towards midnight. He closed his eyes, waiting. The longer hand in the clock slowly ticked away, making its way to the top to meet with the smaller hand.

Seconds passed and the two hands finally met.

" _Ahhhhhhhhh…."_

All through the shack, the Heiomachi students woke up to the distant shrieks of a woman. The cries continued and it got worse as the girls in the class started to cry in fear.

"What's happening?" shouted Kanata, his hands against his ears, as he jumped from his bed.

"Let's go down and see…!" shouted back Nozomu, his hands against his ears as well as the two tried to block out the earsplitting screams.

As the two boys ran to the lobby of the small shack, they came to face with the rest of their class, all in their pajamas and like them, with their hands to their ears.

"Miss Mizuno!" they all called their chaperone, and found her among the girls.

"What's happening?" the guys asked her, "Who's screaming?"

She, like everybody else, was also trying to block out the scream but of no avail. She was unable to answer them and a weird kind of fear was evident in her eyes.

Suddenly the screaming stopped.

Everybody looked at each other, scared and surprised.

What was happening…?

"What _was_ that?" asked a guy in their class.

" _That_ was the curse that the Taiyama Kingdom is bequeathed with".

Everybody turned surprised at the voice of the old man who owned the shack. The old man walked towards them, slowly going, "That is what you all have come searching for…"

The old man's voice sent shivers down Kanata's spine. So, the curse was really true.

But—

"It's just screaming… How could that be a curse…?" he asked the old man thoughtfully.

The old man turned and fixed Kanata's auburn orbs with his pale ones and replied lightly, "the curse is much more than that…"

"Then…?" asked Nozomu, "what is this curse…? What's so scary about this kingdom anyway?"

The old man relaxed and moving away from the crowd, sat down on a small cushion situated at one end of the reception, and heaved a sigh. The group neared him.

"Do you know anything about this kingdom that we don't?" asked Miss Mizuno cautiously.

"You all know _nothing_ about this kingdom," said the old man, breathing out heavily, "You know that you are wasting time coming here… I remember when you came here fifteen years ago…"

Miss Mizuno stiffened at the old man's words. Everybody turned to look at their History teacher.

"You should've left it alone," said the old man shaking his head, "but you had to come and poke your noses in places where they don't belong…"

Nobody spoke a word.

The old man sighed again, "but no further damage is possible… the curse can never be detached…"

"What is this curse…?" piped a girl in a small voice.

"Yes, please tell us…" joined another.

But as the old man scanned everybody's face slowly, Kanata had a bad feeling inside of him. The old man's eyes stopped a minute longer at Kanata's face than everybody else and the brunet had to exercise his entire remaining valor to remain staring back into those pale eyes of the old man.

The old man sighed yet again.

"Ages and ages ago, this inn was built," he started slowly. All the teenagers and Miss Mizuno kept utmost silence to listen to the story that the old man was unfolding for them.

"Then it was my great-great-great-grandfather… I'm not very sure though…" he added with an afterthought and continued, "Anyway, it was my ancient ancestor who was taking care of this inn then…

"The Matsumoto Family, that is my ancestral family," the old man continued, "lived outside the Kingdom… we were assigned to take in travelers and provide with hospitality before they entered the kingdom… which is a few miles away…

"The Taiyama Kingdom is the most prosperous of the lot at that time," he said, nodding his head as the students began to sit down on the floor to listen to the old man, "…and the most peaceful…"

Kanata frowned.

"It was in the reign of the Great Emperor Keitai Taiyama…" the old man sighed, "His rule was marked as the most vigilant and prosperous of the lot… At the tender age of fifteen he was bestowed with the kingdom when his father passed away…

"He was married soon, to the Lady of the Southern Empire, and the kingdom was blessed with a Prince…" he said sadly, "he was named Takakura Taiyama after his great-grandfather… on the day of his birth, the kingdom's Wise Man was called upon to make a prediction as to the Prince's life…"

Everybody listened with bated breath.

"The Wise man predicted that the Prince will grow to be handsome both inside and out… filled with valor inherited from his father and kindness from his mother…" the old man related, "it was then a tradition to keep the Prince inside the walls of the Palace until he becomes a man… when he'd be crowned to be King… basically he has to be inside the Palace until he turned nineteen…"

"Was he a prince or a prisoner?" asked Kanata.

The old man chose to override his statement and continued, "but on the day of the Prince's Nineteenth Birthday, the day in which he'd be crowned King of the Taiyama Empire, a cursed fire destroyed the entire kingdom, and the prince with it, in the process…"

He stopped.

"My ancestors knew nothing about it until the break of dawn when screaming similar to what you have experienced broke through the morning air," the old man continued, "only a few women and children survived the awful fire… and everyone had only one thing to say…"

They all listened with bated breath.

"Witchcraft…" said the old man in barely more than a whisper, "They said that a witch had placed a curse upon the kingdom, destroying it to smithereens… not a grass to ever grow within miles of that ruin… for centuries…"

Some of the girls gasped.

"And the scream you heard tonight is that of the witch," the old man said, "who still roams the lands of the Taiyama Kingdom, searching for whatever she had lost in that fire she created…

"Why is it that we have never heard of this mysterious screaming before?" asked one of the girls, still shaky from the remembering the wild shriek

"This hotel is as far as you would be able to hear the scream. Nobody has ever entered the kingdom after the incident… and those who tried. Well, lost or returned empty handed.

"The huge gates to the kingdom still remain locked and they say it is her that keeps strangers out…" the old man said, "Nobody had managed to enter the kingdom… no matter how hard you try…"

"She'll get mad if you do… and will destroy everything…," the old man looked directly into Kanata's eyes as he finished, "even you…"

 **End Chapter 1**


	2. Chapter 2

**An Eternity to Love**

" _On the day of the Prince's Nineteenth Birthday, the day in which he'd be crowned King of the Taiyama Empire, a cursed fire destroyed the entire kingdom and the prince with it, in the process…_

" _Witchcraft…" said the old man in barely more than a whisper, "They said that a witch had placed a curse upon the kingdom, destroying it to smithereens… not a grass to ever grow within miles of that ruin… for centuries…_

" _Nobody stayed after they hear the scream… nobody was allowed to enter the kingdom… the huge gates to the kingdom still remain locked and they say it is her that keeps strangers out…" the old man said, "nobody could enter the kingdom… no matter how hard you try…_

" _She'll get mad if you do… and will destroy everything…," the old man looked directly into Kanata's eyes as he finished, "even you…"_

A wicked kinda cold went down his spine as he stared back into those gloomy eyes of the old man. At that moment Kanata decided that this was the creepiest thing he'd ever had to do…

"You have been warned."

 **Chapter 2**

 **The Sealed Gates**

"We don't really need this, you know, Miss Mizuno," argued a girl with short black hair pinned to one side with a clip, "this is just too creepy for us…"

"Ya… let's just go, Miss Mizuno," suggested a timid looking brunette.

"You mean, run away?" asked Miss Mizuno lightly.

"This is no battle, Miss Mizuno," pointed out a raven-haired guy smartly, "leaving would not be cowardice… it would mean smartness…"

"I don't think so Taiyeshi," said Nozomu, "we haven't even been to that Kingdom yet... this old man might just be playing tricks on us…"

"I really don't wanna stay here," sighed a blonde as she sat down on the couch in the lounge beside a young brunet, who was deep in thought.

The sun had already risen and the young teenagers along with their chaperone had not returned to their room the entire night, not getting even a glimpse of sleep for the night's events were still hot in their minds.

True, Kanata was a little shaken by the night's events with the scream and the scary story, but he felt that this was going to be one hell of a trip. But he felt that there was still something missing in that old man's story. He was unable to lay his finger on that exact thing.

"Kanata, what do you say?"

Kanata was brought back to Earth by the sound of his friend's query. He looked up and was surprised to see the entire group awaiting his answer. Dozens of emotions was visible in every one of his classmate's face—fear, anxiety, excitement, confusion. But he had already made up his mind before they had even thought about it.

"We'll go see the Kingdom," he said simple much to the fear of his female classmates who gasped at his answer.

Ignoring them, he finished with his ever so famous smirk, "let's see what this _Witch_ can do to us…"

Miles away at the locked away ruins of the Taiyama Kingdom, an eerie wind blew.

 **~An Eternity to Love~**

"Man… I'm exhausted…" breathed out Nozomu, his blond hair whisking over his flawless façade, as he leaned on a tree, exhausted.

"Just a few more steps Hikarigaoka," said Miss Mizuno smartly as she walked past him, up the steep slopes, carrying a huge backpack.

Breathing even more heavily, Nozomu heaved his bag and continued his walk behind his History Teacher, " _Why_ do they have to have the Kingdom up a _hill_ …?"

"Cause that way, dimwits like you would have a hard time climbing up," answered Kanata under his breath as he walked past the blond with ease.

Nozomu opened his mouth to retort but was held back because of lack of energy.

Nearly twenty minutes later, as the sun was at its peak, the gang found its way a few feet before the tremendous gates to the enigmatic Taiyama Kingdom.

The gates, marvelous in breadth, towered up into the sky, a giant in itself. They looked almost formidable as their rusted selves gleamed in the sunlight for reasons unknown to them. The tall and towering walls protecting the kingdom, turned grey from the passage of time, seemed to extend till their eyes could reach.

The troop stood there, mesmerized at the fallen beauty of the Kingdom Doors, for a few minutes.

Kanata took the first brave step towards the gates. Whilst everybody else stood and watched, he walked to the gates and extended out his arm to touch the solid state of the rusted gates with caution.

He gulped before his skin touched the surface of the gates. His eyes were closed the second he touched them. At the very moment, a strong wind blew through the forest, through which they had just come through, lifting their hair and their clothes by a few inches.

Kanata withdrew his hand away from the rusted old gates, frowning. Depression like he'd never experienced before had swept through his body starting from the spot where he'd touched the entrance to the Kingdom. He looked at his palm, wondering.

"How do we get in?" asked Nozomu, looking up at the gigantic gates in awe.

"Well, I know for a fact that we won't be able to get in the normal way," started Miss Mizuno thoughtfully as she paced, "…but…"

"Every Kingdom in this entire Earth, past and present, and future for sure, is bound to have a secret passageway for secretive entrance and exit of Royalty… especially the King or his heir," said Kanata lightly as he adjusted his backpack and faced the gates with poise, a gleam in his auburn orbs, "All we have to do is find this Kingdom's…"

An awkward silence followed this notion and was broken by Taiyeshi who pointed out the obvious, "dude… did you not look at the size of these walls…?"

Kanata sighed lightly and said, "we are nearly twenty in number… we'll each take about an average three miles coverage… if we don't find the passage today, there's always tomorrow…"

More silence followed.

"He's absolutely right," said Miss Mizuno enthusiastically and much to everyone's despair, she began drawing a strategy for them, setting them up with the said three miles coverage.

As she continued with the rest of his class huddled up together with her, Kanata looked up at the gates, calculatingly. He had a weird feeling inside of his head. There was something inside these gates and he was going to find out. He couldn't help but smirk for he had thought this was going to be a waste of time. Even a Saionji could be wrong sometimes.

 **~An Eternity to Love~**

The red tinge in the evening sky, that was the setting sun, gleamed with magnificence even as a manifestation in the man-made device of capturing moment, which is the camera, in a young brunet's hands. His auburn orbs relaxed a bit as he stared at the image of the sun, which he had taken only seconds ago, in his camera. He looked up at the real thing itself and stood mesmerized by its endless beauty.

A few feet away from him, resting his back on the centuries' old walls of the Taiyama Kingdom was an azure-eyed blond who sighed, going, "I knew this was a bad idea…! We are _never_ going to find our way in…"

Kanata, sighing, pushed his camera into his backpack and pulling the latter over his shoulder said to his blond friend with his eyes closed, "save some of your _optimism_ for later Hikarigaoka…"

Nozomu raised his eyebrows at the brunet and scoffed, "Seriously Saionji… you have _any_ idea how long this might take…?"

"Minutes…?" asked Kanata, as he stretched lightly.

"Try an _Eternity_ and we'd still be searching for this 'secret passageway' of yours…" snapped Nozomu, his voice clearly showing signs of losing vigor.

"First, this is not 'my' passageway," corrected Kanata now walking steadily past the blond and then turning to face the blonde a few steps away said, "and second, I don't quit… even if it _does_ take an Eternity".

"Maybe it's time you did," advised Nozomu.

"Maybe it's time you stopped," retorted Kanata.

"I don't quit," snarled Nozomu, losing his patience.

"So, what is it that you're doing right now?" asked Kanata, raising an eyebrow.

"Damn it Saionji!" said Nozomu, irritated, "we've spent the entire day, fruitless…! None of us are even close enough to finding a way in…! We should've just left for home!"

Kanata sighed and said, "Nozomu, I seriously have a _gut_ feeling about this place… I know that we are close to entering… don't do this now…"

"Kanata," started Nozomu, "maybe what the old man said was true… what if this witch or ghost or whatever _is_ locking us out…?"

Kanata looked thoughtful for a moment. Nozomu's heart began to soar. He had finally won an argument against the brunet who was too proud to give up. He parted his lips to suggest leaving when the brunet finally spoke.

"I don't think the so-called Witch exists…"

"C'mon, Kanata…," sighed Nozomu, "what if she does…? What if she's waiting for you right inside to annihilate you with a curse or something?"

"That's not possible," was his reply.

"Why not?" snapped Nozomu.

"Cause there's no such thing as _Magic_ ," said Kanata, his auburn irises sharp with poise.

As the Sun sunk lower behind the mountains, another peculiar breeze blew, catching them off guard. Nozomu looked up at the sky to see the Sun's magnificent rays engulfing the entire area with a glowing dash of crimson.

"The Sunset looks amazing," whispered Nozomu.

Kanata was about to agree when he heard it.

It was a soft humming. A melody that was so beautiful but was being hummed with such sadness that it was overwhelming despite the low volume with which it was emitting.

"Do you hear that?" he asked at once to Nozomu, who looked positively astounded by his sudden query.

"Hear what?"

Kanata frowned and before he could even respond the voice grew steadier still and it was coming from beyond the walls. He turned to face the walls.

The humming was definitely coming from beyond the walls.

He placed both his hands on the wall. It was warm and rutted. Certain sharp portions of the rocks seared into his palm but failed to make any real damage. He closed his eyes much to the astonishment and shock of his blond friend, and tried to focus on the humming.

Amidst the humming, he heard his own voice inside his head order, " _Push"._

He opened his eyes in surprise. The humming had died down but the order still stood fresh in his mind. Without wasting more time, he pushed the stone on which he was resting both his hands.

It hurt.

The sharp edges on the surface succeeded in piercing through the skin on his palm, leading for his blood to flow onto the stone walls.

"Hey!" shouted Nozomu suddenly, "what do you think you're doing?"

But Kanata wasn't listening. He pushed harder. Blood flowed out of his palm even more, drenching the warm stone walls. His head was suddenly buzzing with numbness possibly because his wounded palms were exposed to grimy and soiled rocks, which had had no care whatsoever for the past century being a minimum.

Just when Nozomu had decided to pull the brunet away, the rock gave way and moved just about an inch into the wall.

Kanata relaxed his arms and pulled away his bleeding hands.

" _What was that for_?" asked Nozomu, furiously.

"I thought that was the way in," said Kanata, breathing hard.

"Let's just get outta here," said Nozomu finally and was about to drag away the brunet when an undesirable sound of moving rocks met their ears.

Both turned to their right to see a few feet away, a small gap for a slender person of average height to enter without issues. They sprinted to the entrance swiftly.

"Oh my god," gasped Nozomu staring at the small entrance with his mouth agape.

Kanata on the other hand took a step to enter when Nozomu put an arm out, stopping him from entering, earning him a trademark glare from the said brunet.

"Just wait here," he said, "don't go in… I'll go get Miss Mizuno… she said she'll be at the Main Entrance…"

Kanata opened his mouth to argue when Nozomu interrupted and said, "we _are_ going in, Kanata… just be a little patient… Wait until she gets here, ok…?"

Kanata breathed out and said, "Fine".

"Good," said Nozomu smiling and sprinted off towards the direction of the Main Entrance.

Kanata stood there for an entire minute, outside the small and dark entrance, as though guarding it. In truth, he was itching to go inside and see what the place looks like but he should act reasonably.

He waited.

He gasped.

It was the humming again.

He faced the dark entrance and was not at all surprised at the fact that the humming was most loud at that spot. He stood there, thinking.

He should be reasonable.

The humming grew louder and the voice was making his head go a little numb, draining it completely of thoughts.

"Screw it," he muttered, dropping his backpack to the ground and entered the entrance going, "I'm _never_ going to be reasonable!"

It was a narrow passageway and a single line of reddish light was visible at the other end of the passage. As he took a step, his shoes came in contact with what he assumed to be dry leaves and stones. Taking a deep breath, he started to make his way towards the light.

With every step he took, the humming grew louder still.

He increased the speed of his pace.

He was almost there.

As he came out of the passageway, he had to close his eyes because the sudden brightness from the setting sun was too much for his irises to handle. Trying very hard to open his eyes, he looked around.

His eyes opened wide in shock.

He was in an open ground, with beautiful olive-green grass covering the land and surrounded by all sides, except the way he had come in, with tall green trees and right in the middle was a huge cherry-blossom tree which was in its full bloom.

If that was not breathtaking enough, there was a single swing hanging at one of its enormous branches and on the swing was a slender blonde, her face in a blur because of the constant movement of the swing. Her long blonde hair was caught in the wind, making it one of the most breathtaking sights.

The crimson tinge from the setting sun made it ever more beautiful.

Before he even knew what he was doing, Kanata stepped towards the cherry-blossom tree… towards the girl… the girl who was apparently the source of the humming.

His eyes were wide for he couldn't get enough of the sight. He walked closer. He was mesmerized by the scene.

"Kanata!"

He stopped at the sound of his teacher's voice. At the instant he stopped, the blonde in the swing stopped as well and though her face wasn't much clear from such a distance, he was sure she looked straight at him.

"Kanata!" called Miss Mizuno again.

By instinct, this time, the brunet turned to see the worried faces of his teacher and some of his classmates, including Nozomu sprinting towards him.

He turned again, to look at the blonde only to be witnessing a grey yard, with withering trees and a dead and burnt cherry-blossom tree right in the middle of the grassless ground, with two strands of ropes, grown grey, hanging by its dead branch.

Another drop of blood dropped from the brunet's hands and with it, the brunet dropped to the barren ground, and was at once engulfed by unconsciousness.

 **~End Chapter 2~**

 **A/N:** _Hey y'all! Thanks for the warm welcome despite the delay in almost all of my hanging fanfics. I feel bad that couldn't update YMAO of all_ _Hopefully will have that one updated sometime next week :D Fingers crossed!_


	3. Chapter 3

**An Eternity to Love**

Eighteen-year-old Kanata Saionji sat, staring blankly into the steaming hot chicken soup placed before him on the aged mahogany table in the _Tai_ _hoteru_ dining hall. His heavily bandaged hand was absently moving the spoon in the bowl, mixing the untouched soup in concentric-circles. The said brunet was much too deep in thought to realize the utter fact that the rest of his team-members were staring at him cautiously.

The one thought that was still haunting the young brunet's mind was the phantasm he had had back at the Taiyama Kingdom. He wasn't still sure what he should be most worried about any more—the fact that his mind had started to suddenly give him orders autonomously or the highly implausible event of having visions of a prosperous Taiyama Kingdom and with it a blonde girl _or_ the fact that he had actually fainted.

He sighed finally.

He had had enough of this unwanted bedlam. Although his brain wanted to stay back and solve this "witch" problem, his heart longed to go back home and let it all go. He was never good with things he can't see and touch or explain. He hadn't told anyone about the illusion and did not intend to, but by the looks of his History Teacher, he was sure she'll get it out of him sooner or later.

He decided.

He was going to vote against his own word to get the hell out of this freaking place.

He looked up and parted his lips to inform his History Teacher sitting before him, the fact that he wanted to return home like the rest of his class, but she spoke first. She spoke, not only to him, but to the entire class.

But she could've just spoken to him.

"Hey guys, listen up!" she started, standing up, as the rest of the class looked up at her, still seated, "Since there's a communication problem currently, we'll go into the ruined Palace today and see if we can get anything useful…"

Everybody groaned.

Despite the fact that a way into the Kingdom had been discovered, people were still a little nervous in entering the Kingdom, especially after they had seen their ace classmate fall to the ground, unconscious, the moment he had entered the uncanny place.

"Come on guys…" sighed Miss Mizuno, "just one more day… we'll leave first thing tomorrow morning and let the professionals take over from there… just one more day…"

' _Just one more day…?'_ Kanata thought.

He sighed inwardly, hoping nothing odd happens that one day he has to spend inside that uncanny kingdom.

But little did he know that the worst is yet to come.

 **Chapter 3**

 **The Fallen Prince**

"C'mon guys…" Miss Mizuno called energetically to her students as she stood at the entrance to the enigmatic passageway that her star student was fortunate enough to have located only the other day.

The students entering the passageway, following their History Professor, couldn't help but sigh with every waking step for the scream that they had heard not too long ago still haunted their waking minds.

But the brunet who was bringing the rear to the queue of students from the History Department of Heiomachi University had other things in his mind to worry about. He stood just a step outside the entrance, his heart beating hard against his chest.

The phantasm that he had had the day before was just too real to have been just a hallucination. Kanata held onto his bag over both his shoulders and sighed. He had no idea what is going to happen but there was this feeling inside of his heart that clearly shouted out loud that something undesirable is more likely to happen.

"Yo! Kanata!" Nozomu's voice floated through the dark passageway, "Come on in dude…"

"Ya…" replied the brunet as he heaved a huge sigh and tried to prepare himself for what lay ahead beyond those formidable walls of the Taiyama Kingdom.

As he took his first step into the dark passageway, his shoes making contact with the dead earth below, making an eerie crunching noise which was almost inaudible, all Kanata could hear inside of his head was the memory of the day before wherein he had walked the same passageway in pursuit of the mysterious humming.

He walked at a slow pace, not even making an effort to catch up with the rest of the gang. But he couldn't avoid the end at any cost.

As he stood a foot away from entering into that barren land, he closed his eyes. The memory of the illusion that he had had the day before burned hot in his mind and no matter how many ever times he tried to wish it away, it still pertained.

"Kanata!"

He opened his eyes at the call of his friend.

The brunet sighed and walked out into the bright sunlight. He looked around at the barren land and caught sight of the dead tree right in the middle of the barren area. He frowned as he saw the two ropes, turned grey with time, hanging from one of the tree's dead branches, swinging with the breeze.

As he continued to stare at the dead tree, another gentle breeze made its debut as it made contact with his warm skin, making him shiver lightly. He closed his eyes for a second and opened them again just in time to see his friend motioning him to follow him, as the troop seem to have found a way out of the dead valley.

Kanata sighed again and pulling his bag lightly, traced the steps taken by his classmates. Within minutes, he found himself at the end of a long line of his classmates as some of the guys were struggling with an overgrown shrub to get to the other side.

He waited patiently for he had not a glimpse of idea to help them in their pursuit. All he wanted was to return to the safety of the Saionji Residence but he was, as he constantly reminded himself, a day away from that desire.

"Finally," Kanata could vaguely hear his History Professor sigh in relief.

He guessed by the moving crowd that they had managed to cut down the rabid shrub. He found his feet had turned to lead as they took step-by-step towards the exit from the eerie gorge.

"Oh my god!" a girl from his class was the first to gasp as she came out into the ruins of the once-prosperous, the enigmatic Taiyama Kingdom. As Kanata came out last, he couldn't as well help but gape at the ruin which was the Kingdom.

The first to take a step away from the class and towards the dead and ruined Kingdom was none other than the brunet himself.

His eyes did not stray away from the magnificently towering and ruined citadel whose turrets and towers were visible from their position, roughly about half a dozen miles away from it.

As his brunet orbs stared at the ruined fortress, he couldn't help but wonder how a mere blaze could have destroyed something as glorious as that. He was only mildly aware that the entire kingdom, which covered about a five to six-mile radius, was burned down and not any tint other than black was visible throughout.

"What do you guys say?" his professor's voice came from beside him, "head up to the palace first?"

There was a murmured acquiesce to the said proposal and mustered with newfound enthuse, Miss Mizuno lead the way for her students, their eyes set on the ruined castle.

Again, Kanata found his place at the end of the group, lagging behind as he couldn't get his head straight no matter what he told himself because _the_ Kanata Saionji _never_ has hallucinations.

He sighed yet again as he pushed both his hands into his denims' pockets.

 **~An Eternity to Love~**

"God…" panted the blond as he leaned with both his hands on his legs' knuckles, for support, "I don't think I can walk anymore…"

"Neither can I," breathed a short-haired girl.

"We've been walking for _just_ two hours," pointed out Kanata to his blond friend as he stopped a few feet away from the rest of the group, beside his professor.

"We've been walking for _two_ hours," corrected Nozomu, still not finding the essential energy to stand up and respond.

Kanata shook his head in disapproval.

"Why don't we all take a lunch break, then?" suggested Miss Mizuno kindly.

"I like the sound of that," cried a few.

"Well… we just need to find the right place to do that," she finished smiling.

Everybody couldn't help but sigh at that.

So, they ended up walking for another fifteen minutes, through the destroyed kingdom, careful not to get caught in any wrecks or trod on them. Everywhere the group walked, there were dilapidated little homes.

With every step he took, Kanata took pictures of the ruined kingdom in his reliable digital camera. He stopped at another ruined house and pulled up his camera for a photograph.

As he looked at the ruin through the instrument, he imagined it to have been a two-storey building and had once been a restaurant of some sort for the ground floor gave such an impression. He took a picture and zoomed at the partition between the ground floor and the first floor and found out that he was right.

There was a vague sign in ancient Japanese that resembled the signs used for the word "restaurant" but the first part of the board was too much ruined to be readable. He took a picture of the half-ruined board.

"Hey! Kanata!"

Kanata turned at the sound of Hikarigaoka's voice.

"C'mon man…"

The blond was waving towards him from afar.

Judging by the look on the blonde's face, Kanata guessed that they had finally found a place to rest. Sighing, once again, the brunet made his way towards the blond, his auburn irises glancing unconsciously at his heavily bandaged hands holding his camera.

"I bet this must have been the heart of the city," Taiyeshi proclaimed, adjusting his spectacles.

Kanata's irises opened an edge wider than usual as he stared at the towering statue, almost lost to embers, the upper part of which was already destroyed. His auburn orbs slowly moved along the statue and at its foot was what had once been a huge fountain.

"Amazing," a few were gasping at the enormity of the statue, given the fact that a major part of the statue had been annihilated.

Others however were sitting at the once sterile edges of the stone fountain. Kanata could almost imagine people of the town, tired from their arduous day of work, resting at the fountain—chattering away in ease and leisure.

"Saionji-kun, come sit with us," a group of his fan girls, he presumed, called him over.

Ignoring them, Kanata looked up at the sky to find to his surprise that the sky was nowhere even near to sapphire. It was almost completely covered by formidable looking clouds but it didn't look as though it was going to shower any time soon.

It was all just too weird for him.

He took a few steps away from the statue-fountain and raised his camera before his eyes, and zoomed out to cover the entire statue—or whatever was left of it.

After pressing the button to capture the ruin in his camera, he looked at the statue long and hard. There was something about that ruined old thing that he couldn't place his finger on. It was emitting a strange aura, was the maximum he could think of.

A few minutes later, after everybody had had their share of the lunch that the old man at the inn had been kind enough to pack for them for the day, Miss Mizuno got to her feet and stretched.

"Break's over people, up on your feet now…" she called to her young students.

Several groaned.

 **~An Eternity to Love~**

The sun was at its peak now that the group of teenagers along with their chaperone had reached the end of their little pursuit—The Taiyama Kingdom's eccentric Castle. The group stood at the entrance to the castle which was almost as enigmatic at the Gates to the Kingdom itself, only with lesser security.

And unlike the main Gates, the gates leading into the castle were wide open as though inviting them to join the mourning of its dead kingdom. Nobody braved the ruined palace—nobody—except one.

Kanata walked in a slow pace towards the palace. He stopped at the gates and looked up at the ethereal palace and heaved a sigh. With his eyes closed, he took the first step inside the vicinity of the palace.

The brunet closed his eyes as a gentle breeze blew.

He opened his eyes and once inside said in his usual somber voice, "I think its okay to enter guys…" 

And so the troop passed through the gates and looked around only to find the entire place devoid of any life whatsoever. They walked along the long path towards the main palace and through the almost-destroyed door they entered, only to find more ruins, decorating the once beautiful palace.

"I think we'd better split up and look around for anything worth…" Miss Mizuno suggested and they were all set to pairs as like when they had split up at the Main Gates.

But Kanata was not paying attention. His auburn orbs were straying about the ruined palace, a feeling of suspicion spreading through his body.

As he glanced about the estranged palace, its royal curtains and furniture, its superlative wooden steps, opening right into the middle of the huge hall they were standing in, were all withered and looked as though they might collapse any second now.

As those auburn orbs wandered around the hall, they rested for a moment on the long and withered drapes that covered the enormous castle windows which looked as though they had once been a striking shade of crimson.

Within a few steps the brunet realized that he had stopped in the middle of the hall. On all his sides were the withering Taiyama Kingdom's Palace—a long-lost beauty, the kind which did not deserve a demise as such.

No matter how hard he tried, the brunet couldn't control the emotion suddenly spreading through his body—an emotion of finding something.

He clenched his fist.

He had already made his decision to leave this place and scram as fast as he could. But being here, right in the middle of this lifeless and inexplicable palace made his heart long to find out the mystery that is being held by it.

"Now, let's split up people…!"

 **~An Eternity to Love~**

Kanata walked, both his hands inside his pant pockets, his auburn irises cold with obvious boredom and his brunet locks as messy as always. He was closely followed by his tired blond friend, who was left with taking pictures of the ruined palace.

"Geez… can't you, for once do the working part," complained Nozomu, his usual carefree voice now tainted with nervousness and tiredness, "and I'd gladly take over the job of the bored brat!"

"I don't know Nozomu," replied the brunet lazily, "it's a difficult job… I'm not sure whether you'd be able to handle it very well…"

Nozomu's eyebrows twitched a bit in irritation at the brunet's comment. He was about to retort back when the auburn-eyed brunet silently stopped before a portrait hanging on the corridor wall. Nozomu followed suit and stood beside the silent brunet and looked at the portrait.

Kanata pulled out his camera from his backpack and placed it before his eyes, ready to capture the almost disintegrated and blackened portrait.

"Wow…" said Nozomu as Kanata took the first picture, "who do you reckon he is…? The King…?"

"My guess exactly," said Kanata impassively as he stared into those cold-looking amber eyes of the raven-haired man in the portrait. It was hard to make out properly but he sure looked hard at first sight. The man's faded crown and emerald robes were all more than a little faded but his face was clearly visible though parts of it was faded as well.

"Ke-kei-ta-tai Tai-tai-ya…" Nozomu read with difficulty the faded and ancient Japanese letters engraved along one of the frames of the portrait.

"Keitai Taiyama," breathed Kanata, staring into those blank amber-irises of the fallen emperor.

"Yea…" said Nozomu suddenly bright and then frowning again said, "that old man mentioned him, didn't he…?"

"Yeah…" replied Kanata, thoughtfully.

" _It was in the reign of the Great Emperor Keitai Taiyama…" the old man sighed, "His rule was marked as the most vigilant and prosperous of the lot… At the tender age of fifteen he was bestowed with the kingdom when his father passed away…_

" _He was married soon, to the Lady of the Southern Empire, and the kingdom was blessed with a Prince…" he said sadly, "he was named Takakura Taiyama after his great-grandfather…"_

Kanata stood there, wondering. This man was obviously someone whom he'd never cross in this world was his first thought. But he couldn't help but admit that to cross him would be fun nonetheless.

"Thank god, I found you!"

The two teenagers turned at the sound of the panting of Taiyeshi.

"What's wrong?" Nozomu was first to react.

"Saionji… you have to see this…" he panted, trying to catch his breath.

"What is it?" asked Kanata at once. He did not like the look in his classmate's eyes. There was definitely something wrong and he didn't like to even think about.

"No time to explain," he said, straightening up and preparing to run back, "Come on you two…!"

And so the two followed Taiyeshi as he traced his footsteps back to the main hall where they had decided on which way to split.

"Where's Miss Mizuno?" asked Kanata through the sprint, as they took a right at the main hall and emerged at another ruined and dark corridor.

"Everybody's already there," Taiyeshi informed as he picked up his speed.

They emerged at another new corridor at the end of which stood the rest of their class, staring at the corridor wall perplexed.

As Taiyeshi and Nozomu continued to sprint towards the group, Kanata slowed down his sprint and came to a halt. His heart had suddenly begun to beat faster than usual and he knew it wasn't a good sign at all.

As he watched at the place where he stood, Nozomu had come to a halt before Miss Mizuno who motioned him towards the wall. The blond turned confused and on sight of whatever was on the wall, the confusion on the blonde's face was wiped only to be replaced by sheer shock. He turned slowly towards where Kanata stood, with his eyes wide.

Kanata dreaded every step he took towards the lot. He was edging closer with every step he took and he was not at all assured by the look that his History Professor and his classmates were giving him right now.

He stopped before them and slowly turned to face the wall only to meet with another portrait—except this one was not that of the King.

"It's Prince Takakura Taiyama," offered Miss Mizuno, her voice grave.

Kanata's auburn orbs opened wide as he stared into the portrait.

"It's you Kanata…"

His heart began to beat more fast as he stared into those auburn orbs of the brunet in the portrait—a perfect replica of the brunet standing staring at them.

 _Seventeen-year-old Kanata Saionji, an ace student in high-school, a freshman History Major in the Heiomachi University, the son of a warm Buddhist priest in the peaceful town of Heiomachi…_

 _Who would have thought that he has the reincarnated body of the last heir to the enigmatic Taiyama Kingdom—Prince Takakura Taiyama—the prince who had lost his life on the very day of his eighteenth birthday to the phantom fire which is heard to be the work of an immortal witch, who is known to still haunt the ruined Kingdom—_ _The Fallen Prince_ _._

 _Wait as the real story unveils itself…_

 **End Chapter 3**


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